


If there's a screen, there's a way.

by mkhhhx



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Gaming, Hyungwon Bingo, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Long-Distance Friendship, M/M, References to the videogame Portal, to short distance relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-23 20:08:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20014078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mkhhhx/pseuds/mkhhhx
Summary: His parents’ voices “Don’t talk to stranger, don’t give your information on the internet!” rings in his ears.But seventeen years old Hyungwon is a little bit of a rebel and a lot of curious about shark2211, so he answers.





	If there's a screen, there's a way.

**Author's Note:**

> For the "portal" square.
> 
> I checked, but there's still a good chance I messed up the timeline a bit, please don't pay tooo much attention to it :')

“My room” Kihyun steps into the bedroom and then back out, “and your room!” he steps back in, his voice high pitched with amusement and Hyungwon laughs out of pure happiness.

“Come here, silly.” Hyungwon opens his arms and Kihyun hops on him, the both of them falling on the bed, their bed. Kihyun is all bright smiles and clear laugher and cuddles the past few days, more than the rest of their relationship combined, Hyungwon thinks. And he’ll make sure to keep it just that way.

“Kinda disappointed we didn’t invent a functioning portal after all” Kihyun giggles resting atop Hyungwon, their faces inches apart, “but we can make up for it in other ways.”

“We’ll make up for all the lost time” Hyungwon says, his hand on the small of Kihyun’s back, rubbing slow circles, “no parents, no roommates, no time limit, just us in our house.”

“I have a few good ideas, starting from tonight, actually” Kihyun leans down to kiss him.

There, on a plain mattress with no sheets in the middle of a half furnished room they get their first taste of actual freedom.

They first “meet” at 2008 at some gaming forum, a few months after Portal has been out and they’re both a bit addicted to it. It’s nothing at first, just users _napwarrior94_ and _shark2211_ occasionally answering to each other’s forum questions, sometimes bickering over their favorite games or exchanging cheat codes.

They are almost totally anonymous there, Hyungwon has the turtle from Nemo as his profile picture while Kihyun has some shaky, generic landscape, probably a shot he took himself. Little bits and pieces of info start slipping over time: both going to high school, Kihyun having a dog, Hyungwon living close to the sea. It’ll take some more time until private chats become widespread, so they make do with what they have for the time being.

Portal 2 comes out at spring of 2011 and somehow, the both of them are still there, in that same forum that has undergone quite some changes in the time in between the game releases. But they have changed a lot as well, too. The messaging system, although primitive by modern standards, was welcomed by most users, as were the many other new functions like the search filters around the site.

**_shark2211_**  
_Wanna try multiplayer? We can skype call too._

It’s the first message Hyungwon receives and there’s still a screenshot of it somewhere deep in his laptop. He remembers himself contemplating how safe it is to say yes and give his Skype to a stranger. A stranger with whom he’s been talking for the past three years and is somehow incredibly fond of. His parents’ voices “Don’t talk to stranger, don’t give your information on the internet!” rings in his ears. But seventeen years old Hyungwon is a little bit of a rebel and a lot of curious about _shark2211,_ so he answers.

**_napwarrior94  
_**Sure! My skype name is Chae.Hyungwon.1994

**Incoming Skype call from KiYooHyun**

And like that, a dozen games and Skype calls later things start to change.

It takes some time for them to actually open their cameras and reveal themselves but Hyungwon still remembers the moment clearly, Kihyun, pixelated to hell in his tiny dorm room while Hyungwon was playing at the bulky computer on his father’s office.

“So that’s you!” Kihyun had exclaimed and Hyungwon has never thought his voice would be like this, nor his face. And he felt his weird, all over the place feelings for Kihyun bloom.

It took him two more years to admit to himself that Kihyun, proclaimed best friend and videogame buddy could be something more. He could be something more if only he reciprocated Hyungwon’s feelings and he wasn’t so far away. Hyungwon was leaving for university soon and he could work part time and his parents would never know he was visiting an internet friend. He was so, so looking forwards to it and praying Kihyun would be as happy to meet as he was.

Up until then he only wished he could jump into a portal and get out in Kihyun’s room from the other side.

In the meantime, their time extended way more than the hours they were playing videogames together. Now it was long skype calls while Kihyun was studying his physics textbooks and Hyungwon was killing time waiting for his university entrance results. It was sharing cute photos and quotes and sending songs to each other. It was Hyungwon smiling every morning when he woke up to a text from **_SharKi!_** as he had Kihyun saved in his phone.

That summer, things change a lot more over some simple texts.

**_SharKi!_** __  
Mum told dad I’m gay.  
Didn’t go well. 

Hyungwon had looked at the message on his screen for long, taking the words in. He knew Kihyun was gay but didn’t want his father to know and he was stuck at his hometown for a week or so more and was probably going through a lot of anxiety. So he did what he knew best, messaged him to keep him company.

**_TurtleWon_ ** _  
I wish I could come take you out of there._

**_SharKi_** __  
When I get my degree I’ll make us a portal  
so we can hop in to each other’s rooms whenever we want.

**_TurleWon_ ** _  
I hope we get to meet way before that, though._

And they do, only a few months after Hyungwon leaves for the university he was successfully accepted to. With a little bit of planning, his parents will never know as well. Hyungwon is at Incheon, Kihyun is at Seoul and there’s little more than their own shyness keeping them apart now.

The second first time they meet, actually meet without any electronics between them is at a café in the middle of the busiest Seoul street. Hyungwon took the train and Kihyun has a break between his classes, glasses perched on his nose and his bag looking heavy.

Hyungwon remembers how awkward it was, in the sweetest way possible, sitting there, looking at Kihyun and spotting all the moles and little scars and expressions he couldn’t pick up before. Kihyun had held his hand before they parted, walking him back to the train station and promising to be the one to visit the next time and that next time being soon.

“The tickets are quite costly” Hyungwon had laughed, “you better invite that portal soon!”

They hadn’t logged into that old gaming forum in so long, but they’ve found a new, better one and Hyungwon’s icon now was a blue circle while Kihyun’s was an orange one their little beloved inside joke.

It only takes some few more years for some bigger changes to happen. Getting their degrees, finding jobs, Hyungwon taking Kihyun to his hometown to meet his parents, adopting a puppy, getting Kihyun’s father to eventually mellow out, if only just a bit. All leading to the highlight of getting that set of keys, the keys to their own house, two gaming computers built one right next to each other on the wide desk.

**Author's Note:**

> ...aaaand that's bingo!
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
